Head attachment for banana hand truck



Sept. 25, 1956 w. A. REICH 2,764,305

HEAD ATTACHMENT FOR BANANA HAND TRUCK Filed May 10, l954 v 2 Sheets-Sheet l 3. INVENToR. EL3 lI/a/e/f A. 2/

Sept. 25, 1956 w. A. RElcH 2,764,305

HEAD ATTACHMENT FOR BANANA HAND TRUCK Fil ed May l0, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mun mu A E7 INVENTOR.

/L ifa/fer ,4. /e/'O/i BY@ TTOKNE United States Patent O HEAD ATTACHMENT FOR BANANA HAND TRUCK Walter A. Reich, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to A. Reich & Sons, Inc., Kansas City, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application May 10, 1954, Serial No. 428,529

Claims. (Cl. 214-501) This invention relates to improvements in equipment for handling bulky merchandise and has for its primary object the provision of a novel head designed to receive the loop of a hanging cord that is normally tied to the merchandise such as to the stem of banana bunches at the point of shipment from the plantation.

In my copending application, Serial No. 287,289, filed May l2, 1952, and now abandoned, the problems relating to expeditious handling of bunches of bananas by the wholesaler, from unloading through the ripening rooms, was initially set forth. A grappling hook adapted to grasp the aforesaid hanging cord and mounted on a vertically reciprocable, mobile hoist is therein disclosed as a solution to the task of moving the bunches to and from a position suspended from the ceiling hooks of the ripening room. i

Subsequently, in my copending application, Serial No. 354,274, tiled May 11, 1953, an extension of the program was disclosed, providing a hand truck employing the said grappling hook and adapted to facilitate unloading oi' the bunches. Through use of the hand truck the bananas could be moved into the ripening room and be received by the hoist of my lirst application.

On May l1, 1953, I tiled my copending application, Serial No. 354,275, teaching how the hook of the said hand truck could be mounted on a vertically reciprocable hoist.

In each case, the grappling hook grasped the hanging cord between the loop thereof and the stem to which it was tied. It is difcult however, to transfer the bananas from the hand truck of Serial No. 354,274, to the grappling hook of Serial No. 287,289, or Serial No. 354,274, and at the same time leave the cordv loop free to be received by the said ceiling hooks of the ripening rooms.

It is the most important object of the present invention therefore, to provide a novel head for hand trucks such as disclosed in my application Serial No. 354,274, this being a continuation-in-part of the. aforementioned applications. y

Another important object is to provide a head, as above set forth, having a shank provided with fingers for receiving the cord loop attached to the banana stern, thereby` leaving the remainder of the cord free to be grasped by other .suitable grapples.

Still another important object of this invention is to` provide a head having spaced fingers that will not only receive the loop of a handling rope but will clear ceiling hooks or Athe like upon which the merchandise is hung or to be hung.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a hand cart for carrying bananas, employing a loop-receiving head made according to my present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, top plan View of the head.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line III-III of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of the head.

' as shown in Fig. l, the entire hanging element 30 between lCe Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the slide bar of the head locking the loop in place.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a modification of the present invention showing its manner of use in removing a looped rope from, or placing the same on a ceiling hook or the like.

Fig. 7 is an elevational view thereof showing the rope locked in place.

Fig. 8 is a bottom view thereof.

Fig. 9 is a section on line IX-IX of Fig. 8.

Fig. l0 is a section on line X-X of Fig. 9; and

Fig, 11 is a section on line XI-XI of Fig. 9.

Hand cart 10 shown in Fig. 1 is made according to the principles of my said application Serial No. 354,274, and includes a continuous, rectangular frame 12 having handle bars 14 to which are secured wheel means 16 to render the same mobile. A tubular lever 18, swingable on frame 12 upon release of latch means 20, has head 22, embodied in Figs. 1 5, rigidly secured thereto. The bunch of bananas 24, shown in Fig. 1 suspended from head 22, rests on a canvas panel 26 when the cart 10 is tipped back for rolling.

Stem 28 of banana bunch 24 is conventionally equipped with a hanging cord 30, usually tied thereon at the plantation and provided with a loop 32. Head 22 has been especially designed to receive the loop 32 as is also clear in Figs. 4 and 5.

Head 22 includes an elongated shank 34 extending into lever 18, as shown in Fig. 3, and provided with a longitudinal slot 36, open at its top exteriorly of lever 18. Slot 36 receives an elongated slide bar 38 for longitudinal reciprocation therein and retained in place by a stop bolt 40. A boss 42 on shank 34 has bolt 40 threaded therein, and a lock nut 44 on bolt 40 bears against boss 42. A notch 46 in the upper edge of bar 38 receives the lower end of bolt 4I) which extends into slot 36.

Lower edge 48 of bar 38 slides on bottom wall 5t) of U-shaped shank 36 and the edge slopes upwardly and forwardly at 52, terminating in a hook 54. A ngerpiece 56 projects downwardly below the inclination 52, presenting the hook 54.

The sides of shank 34 are notched at 58, clearing iingerpiece 56 for reciprocation, and have convex edges 60 extending upwardly and forwardly from wall 50, presenting a pair of fingers 62 that project beyond indentations 64. A bevelled, lowerrnost edge 66 on ingerpiece 56, is engageable complementally with upper edges 68 of fingers 62 as shown in Fig. 5.

With latch bar 38 open as shown in Fig. 4, cart 10 may be moved into position, and the lever 18 manipulated, after release of latch 30, to extend fingers 62 into loop 32 until the bight of the latter rests snugly with indentations 64. Thereupon, when bar 38 is closed, or permitted to slide closed upon tilting of shank 34 to the position shown in Fig. 5, loop 32 will be locked in place. Any tendency of loop 32 to slide out of the indentations 64 and along edges 68 of fingers 62 will only cause lingerpiece 56 to bear tighter againstlingers 64 as loop 32 engages the hook 54.

When the bananas 24 are suspended from the head 22 lingers 62 and stem 28 is free to be grasped by any type of grappling hook, such as those hereinabove referred to. Conversely, when the bananas 24 are held suspended by a 'grappling hook in such manner, the loop 32 is held free for reception of the fingers 62 on head 22.

In presenting the embodiment of this invention shown in Figs. 6-11, only lever 11S of a cart or other handling equipment is illustrated, but the manner lof use of the invention in connection with ceiling hooks 119 or the like can be better understood.

Head 122 includes an elongated shank 134 secured rigidly to lever 118, and provided with a longitudinal s100136 .openat its top andbottorn by virtue of the U-shaped configuration of shank 134 as seen in Fig. 8.

Slot 136 receives a bolt 140 that extends through a slot 137 inlever 118 and thence into an elongated slide bar or rod 138 within lever 118,'bolt 140fserving to 'hold rod 138 against rotation in lever 113.

A `plate or lingerpiece '156 on the outermost end of the rod 138 is provided with a tf-shaped notch which forms an inwardly and downwardly inclined cavity 152 in .rod V'133, and presents a pair of shank-embracing legs 154.

The sides `or legs of the' shank'134 arenotched at.158, clearing legs`154 for reciprocation toward andv away from the proximal end of lever 118. Convex edges 16d extending upwardly and forwardly from the lower edges of shank134 present a pair of Vlingers 162 that project beyond indentations 164. Inner edges 16d of lingers 162 `slope downwardly `and inwardly toward indentations 164.

Useiand operation of 'head 122 is best understood by viewing Figs. 6 and 7. Lever 118 may be easily manipulated to and from a position extending lingers 162 through loop 132 and clearing hook 119. Note in Fig. 6 the way in which cavity 152. receives hook 119 so that lingers 162 may be moved to and from av position embracing hook 119 and receiving the bight of loop 132.

Assuming that. loop 132 is being removed from hook 119, as soon as the bight of loop 1321s lirmly seated in indentations164 of lingers 162,A lever 11S may be swung to lift the loop 132 clear of hook:.119.

If, at any time lever 11S is swung to the position shown in Fig. 7, such as when lowering an article to which loop 132 is tied, bar or rod 13S will gravitate outwardly until legs 154 engage lingers 162, thereby locking loop 132 in place and preventing the same from slipping oliC lingers 162. Note in Fig. il that there is suliicient space between legs 154 and shank 134 to clear loop 132 when the latter is within indentations 164. But, if lever 118 is tipped downwardly still further from the position shown in Fig. 7 so that loop 164 kmoves out of indentations 164 and along edges 168, legs 154 will be embraced by loop 132 and the latter remains attached to head 12T..

Rod `138 may be manipulated through use of lingerpiece 156 when needed or .if desired, but for the most part, rod 13S slides automatically to and from the locking position shown in Fig. 7 as lever 113 is swung. lf legs 154 happen to be in engagement with lingers 162 as hook 119 is approached, whetheror not loop 132 is within indentations 164, rod 138 can be retracted as soon as the same engages the hoolf. 119.

It is of course, understood that lever 11S may torni a part of a cart or other equipment such as shown in Fig. l. And, the operation of head 22 of Figs. l-5 with respect to ceilinY hooks and similar hanging means is the'sarne as justv described with respect to head 122.

Through use of these Vim,provernents therefore, the task of Vmoving the banana bunch 24 or other heavy merchandise such as sides of beef and the like, to and from ceiling ropes, hooks or chains of ripening rooms, or the like, or hooks such as disclosed in `mycopending applicationSerial No. 315,456, filed October 18, 1952, is greatly simplified.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

lQFor use withequiprnent for handling bulky Inerchandise .having a hanging element secured thereto, said element being provided Ywith a loop normally suspended from a ceiling hook, a head including an elongated shank provided with an upwardly facing notch at one end thereof, presenting an extension, said shank having a slot ysubdividing the extension into a pair of spaced, upwardly andforwardly projecting, loop-receiving lingers adapted to extend into the loop and receive the hook therebetween with the bight of the loop engaged over the extension; and a'bar yslidable toandfrom a position engaging lthe lingers, there being loop-receiving indentations in the lingers whereby the bar clears the loop when engaging the fingers, the uppermost edges of the lingers extending downwardly and inwardly at an angle as said indentations are approached.

2. For use with Vequipment .forhandling .'bulky merchandise having a hanging element secured thereto, said element being provided with a loop normally suspended from r. ceiling hook, ahead including an elongatedshank provided with an vupwardly facing `notch at fonexend thereof, presenting an extension, said shank having a slot subdividing the'extension into a pairor" spaced, upwardly and forwardly projecting, loop-receiving lingers adapted to extend into the loop and receive the hook therebetween with the bight or" the loop engaged over the extension; and a bar slidable to and from a position engaging the lingers, there being loop-receiving indentations in the lingers whereby the bar clears the loop when engaging the lingers, the uppermost edges of the lingers extending downwardly and inwardly at an angle as said indentations are approached, the bar being provided with a lingerpiece on `one end thereof, said end being inclined upwardly and outwardly as saidlingerpiece is approached.

3. For use with a hand truck forhandling bunches of bananas wherein-the ybunches each have a hanging element secured to the stem. thereof and provided with a loop, ahead comprising an elongated shank Vprovided with a notch at one end thereof, presenting an extension, and a longitudinal, open top slot, said slot subdividing the extension .into'a pair of spaced, loop-receiving lingers; a bar slidable in the slot of the shank to and from a position engaging the lingers; and retaining means holding the bar within the slot, there being loop-receiving identa-tions in the fingers whereby the bar clears the loop when engaging the lingers, the uppermost edges of the lingers extending downwardly ,and inwardly at an angle as said indentations are approached, the `bar vbeing .provided with a lingerpiece on one end thereof having an inclined, lowermost edge engageable with said edges of the lingers, said bar being provided with a lowermost edge having a portion inclined upwardly and outwardly as said fingerpiece is approached and spaced above the loop when said inclined edge of the lingerpiece is inl engagement 4with the .ngers, said ngerpiece extending downwardly below said inclined portion of the bar, presenting Aa loop-retaining hook when said inclined yedge of the 'lingerpiece isin engagement with the lingers.

4. In .a structure of the class described, a .tubular handle; a slide `bar extending into one end of .the..handle; a head on the handle having a pair of yupstanding .lingers extending beyond said one end of the handle;V and. aA plate on the outermost end of the bar having a notch ernbracing thelingers.

5. In a structure of the class described, a tubular handle; a slide bar extending into one end of thefhandle; a head on the handle having a pair of upstanding lingers extending beyond said one endof the handle; and a plate on the outermost end of the bar having a notch embracing the ingerssaid notch having an uppermost apex end, there being a cavity in the plate and. the bar extending :inwardly and downwardly from said apexend of thenotch.

References Cited in the lile of .this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 724,428 Bowman Apr. 7, 1903 1,015,393 Murphy Jan. 23, 1912 1,129,671 Hardy Feb. 23, 1915 1,814,900 Deppe July 14, 1931 2,555,072 Zaenkert May 29, 1951 2,644,598 `Winslow July 7, 1953 

